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A much more recent edition of Mathematics Teaching was the inspiration for this.

Pythagorean Ripples consists of 65 squares and 108 triangles, each in 4 different sizes. The design was inspired by ‘Don’t let anyone tell you Maths isn’t beautiful’ - an article by Richard Goodman in the March 2000 edition of Mathematics Teaching.

Perhaps the afghan should be retitled Pythagoras Tree Gone Mad as there are very close links between the two. However the original intention of the investigation undertaken by Mr Goodman’s pupils was to construct patterns and perhaps contemplate infinity.

In March, when the journal arrived Fibo-optic was still being made. I never (well, hardly ever) have more than one item under construction at a time so this one had to wait a little while. I knew exactly what yarns I wanted for Pythagorean Ripples. It had to be a variegated yarn in bright colours and four matching colours for the squares.

A day or two before Fibo-optic would be finished I went off to the market where I knew I could buy what I wanted. Horror! The day before, an adjoining building had burned down and the entire area had been evacuated because it was unsafe and it was likely to stay that way for some time. I toured round various other shops and markets but without success.

In desperation I phoned Mark Barnes of King Cole Ltd which is not far from where we live.

‘Mark, have you got any of that horrible bright spotty stuff?’ It wasn’t the most tactful question!

‘Come and see me,’ he said.

When I arrived he met me with a bag in his hand and said, ‘Is this the horrible spotty stuff you want?’

It was exactly right. It turned out that this particular bag had been returned by a lady who thought it was faulty. That type of yarn tends to look different depending on whether it is used in short rows or long rows and how often the spots crop up. She had knitted two sleeves and was unhappy because they were not the same. She had been refunded and the yarn was about to go in the bin - until I turned up. It was perfect for my purposes.

The colours of Pythagorean Ripples are garish but they seemed to fit perfectly with the drawings the kids had produced and with the notion of our other, more sophisticated, design having run riot.